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Some glitches as NM unemployment system is reset

By The Associated Press

Posted:
01/10/2013 11:17:31 AM MST

ALBUQUERQUE - The state agency that administers New Mexico's unemployment insurance benefits program said its launch of a new system for claims and tax reports went successfully but there were some issues.

Many people had to make repeated calls, a number due to unfamiliarity with the new system, the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/VRgiHo) reported Thursday.

Other problems involved a last-minute extension of federal benefits and a banking error that delayed payments.

The Department of Workforce Solutions said its new system paid out $4 million in jobless claims and certified more than 17,000 people for benefits while helping more than 22,000 people open online accounts and enabling nearly 1,000 employers to electronically file wage reports.

State officials said the system improves the timeliness and accuracy of payments, provides more services and helps the state prevent and recover improper payments.

"Any transition to a system this big, and so big of a change for a state agency is a big undertaking and we've just been very pleased with the results," she said.

The program's operations center received more than 180,000 calls from more than 17,000 individuals seeking help between Monday morning and mid-day Wednesday.

"While this extraordinarily high call volume impacted our ability to respond to all callers in a timely fashion, we successfully converted data from the old system to the new one," department Secretary Celina Bussey said.

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Marilyn Underwood of Albuquerque said she called dozens of times and wasn't able to reach a live person for help in certifying her weekly benefits.
"They got a new system and it doesn't work," Underwood said.

She described having to go through a series of options and sometimes receiving a recording that everyone was busy and she should call back.
She said she then went to a Workforce Solutions office to get assistance, but couldn't even get into the parking lot.

"Some guy was coming out and I was talking to him and he said, 'lady, you might as well save going in there. It's a madhouse,"' she said.